general – Comicsgirl https://www.comicsgirl.com Fri, 10 May 2024 12:55:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 https://www.comicsgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/cropped-EdenMiller2017-1-32x32.jpg general – Comicsgirl https://www.comicsgirl.com 32 32 59683043 A farewell https://www.comicsgirl.com/2024/05/10/a-farewell/ Fri, 10 May 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=5238 This site hasn’t been active since 2018 (and even then … barely) so I don’t think this is particularly a surprise.

This site has kindly been hosted by my friend Dan. For a variety of reasons, he’s getting out of web hosting and there are no hard feelings there. He also hosts my current site, Cosmic Need, and I’ll be moving that elsewhere.

But then the issue came up what to do with this since it didn’t seem practical to transfer an inactive site elsewhere.

I’ve paid for the Comicsgirl domain through mid 2027, though, so Dan has agreed that this site will live as a static site (less likely to be hacked!) until then. After that, I think Comicsgirl is probably done.

It won’t quite bring Comicsgirl up to 30 years of existence, no, but that I’ve kept this site mostly running in one form or another (the early years didn’t have the domain but they count) for 25+ years is significant. I’m OK with letting it go.

This site is archived by the Library of Congress so it’s preserved for some sense of forever. I’ll be keeping a copy, too.

So yeah, that’s it for this part of my life. I’m edencosmic on most places (I’m more active on some than others).

]]> 5238 Happy 20th birthday, Comicsgirl! https://www.comicsgirl.com/2018/07/01/happy-20th-birthday-comicsgirl/ Sun, 01 Jul 2018 13:00:02 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=4767

On July 1, 1998, the first incarnation of Comicsgirl officially launched. The internet was a very different place then and no, I didn’t think I’d still be trying to hang onto this 20 years later. I mean, 2018 was completely the future! I have no idea if that teenager who thought it would be cool to make a website would be happy or sad I’m still doing this. I may have been overly ambitious, but it was 1998 and there was a need!

I admit to being naive in some of the language I used but I do admire how generous I attempted to be, even if I was — admittedly — really imperfect at it.

The early days of Comicsgirl are long since gone from the internet, for the most part. There’s still the Wayback Machine, so let’s revisit some of the things I wrote (not all are from the earliest version of the site — the oldest version I could find was from October 1999, but close enough!) Also, I just tossed these images in — they weren’t ones from the original site (and the introductions to these posts did have creator/publisher information and such).

About The Sandman:

The Sandman was an ambitious project about the Lord of Dreams and his family, The Endless (Destiny, Death, Delirium, Destruction, Desire, Despair), and the mortal (and often not so mortal) dreamers they encountered. The Sandman delved deeply into mythology, history, and literature. It has been said that The Sandman is a story about stories, and I will easily agree with that.

The Sandman, mainly because it was a nontraditional comic book (meaning that it generally lacked men in tights and capes fighting crime), appealed to many women. Neil Gaiman’s personal estimate of its readership is about 50/50 split between males and females. Three and a half of the seven Endless are female (Death, Despair, Delirium, and sometimes Desire), and many strong female characters play prominent roles in the storylines. Even though some of the female characters may be strippers, or murdered, they are never presented as being mere sex objects or victims. From the coldly independent Thessaly, to the sweet, lonely Nuala, to the quick intelligence Johanna Constantine, every woman in The Sandman has self-worth and is presented as being nothing less than whole. One character remarks in The Sandman that “All women are remarkable.” Everything about the women in this title would agree with that. Highest recommendation possible.

About Elfquest:

ElfquestElfquest is a fantasy comic book concerning a group of elves named the Wolfriders. These elves evolved after a race of being accidentally landed at the wrong time on a fantasy world. They struggle against humans who believed them to be demons, cruel trolls, and even other treacherous elves in a struggle for survival in a world where they do not belong.

Elfquest, which was written and illustrated for many years by a woman, has an abundance of female characters, each multidimensional with her own strengths and weaknesses. The female elves are treated on the same terms as the male elves, and neither gender is made to look superior or inferior. The writing and artwork deals with them both equally. While the women are sometimes scantily clad and well-figured, the men are drawn exactly in the same manner, and neither is offensive. The stories are excellent, the art is great, and Elfquest is just downright fun. Highly Recommended.

About Batman: The Dark Knight Returns:

In this dark and historic miniseries, Frank Miller explores what effect superheroes have on society. Ten years after Bruce Wayne retired from being Batman, a new crime wave has hit Gotham City. Although he is older, Bruce Wayne feels the drive and desire to become Batman once again, and does so not realizing how the world has changed since the last time Batman appeared.

I almost did not want to review this, because the question came up…is The Dark Knight Returns “female-friendly”? Well, it’s not “friendly” in any way, although it is a monumental work–as relevant today as it was ten years ago, and it probes deeply into the psyche of one of the world’s most beloved superheroes, but is it something female comic book readers would enjoy? I can only speak from experience that I am a female comic book reader, and I liked it a lot.

I would like you to be warned–this is no simple superhero tale. It is violent, unnerving, unrelenting. Those aspects of the book can’t be ignored. But The Dark Knight Returns is also about the sweet, fatherly relationship Batman has with the new Robin, a thirteen-year old girl, and Batman’s continuous attempt to save himself from the torture of the memory of the violent killing of his parents he witnessed as a child. These aspects humanize the book. It’s not just mindlessly violent, nor a thoughtless tale of fighting crime. It’s about one man’s misguided mission to save his city from crime–to stop what happened to him from happening to anyone else. In that regard, the book is worthy of being read and something will be gained from doing so. So reservations about “female-friendliness” aside: Highly Recommended.

Yeah, and that’s enough of that. Did I mention I was a teenager and this was more or less 20 years ago?

In all honesty, though, doing this has brought so many good things into my life. People were generous with their comics and I got to read a lot of things I wouldn’t have otherwise. I was once vaguely considered an “expert” and people even interviewed me about my site! It lead to getting involved with Small Press Expo and that’s been amazing. I’ve made countless friends — including people I absolutely consider to be my family. It indirectly (and directly) lead to job opportunities. It has been frustrating at times, sure, but I think there’s a good reason that even after 20 years, I haven’t wanted to let go of this.

Mostly, it’s been such a huge part of my life and I’ve loved it so much.

I’ve watched the internet change from websites (remember when I used to run a webring? Do you even know what a webring is?) to blogs to … whatever space we’re in now. I like change but I hope I can keep up.

I had fun going through my site and rereading things. I’ve collected a few of them.

Favorite posts (that aren’t reviews):

My favorite reviews:

Three reviews by special guests:

Despite the fact I haven’t updated this site in nearly a year, I don’t consider it “dead” — I’m just … taking a break. I have some plans for the next era of this site. I’m getting there! I may even bring the podcast back! But really, thank you to everyone who has ever indulged me with this. You’re all a delight.

]]> 4767 2014 Comics Superlatives https://www.comicsgirl.com/2014/12/17/2014-comics-superlatives/ Thu, 18 Dec 2014 02:09:48 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=4217

As I started rounding up the comics I liked this year, I saw a pattern, so I made a joke:

And then I just decided to go with it.
This is not a definitive list but these are all comics, creators, events and projects from 2014 I want to recognize. I think we can all agree that 2014 was a pretty remarkable year for comics.
]]> 4217 33 for 2013 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2014/01/06/33-for-2013/ Mon, 06 Jan 2014 23:17:21 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=4042 This is my list of the 33 things that happened in the comics world in 2013 that made me happy. They’re in alphabetical order.

Blue is the Warmest Color

 

]]> 4042 Dirt Candy and the joys of comics about food https://www.comicsgirl.com/2012/09/06/dirt-candy-and-the-joys-of-comics-about-food/ Thu, 06 Sep 2012 13:00:52 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3407 Here’s something you didn’t know about me: I once considered seriously going to cooking school.

Well, I’m not quite sure how “serious” the “seriously” part was, but at age 20 and obsessed with the Food Network (when it was good!) and the original Iron Chef, all I wanted to do was cook. But there was the pesky fact I was a vegetarian that got in the way of pursuing cooking school.

I still love to cook. I still love the Food Network (well, not as much as I did) and I spend more Saturdays than I should enjoying the cooking shows in PBS.

So of course, when I read that New York’s “vegetable” restaurant Dirt Candy‘s cookbook was going to be in comic form, I was automatically sold. Chef and proprietor, Amanda Cohen, wrote it with her husband, Grady Hendrix, and Action Philosophers artist Ryan Dunlavey provided the art. It’s a delightful glimpse into the burdens of opening and running a restaurant (harder than you think!) and the ups and downs of cooking (especially vegetarian food to skeptical audiences). Cohen’s voice is light and fun although she doesn’t shy away from the harder aspects of this life. Dunlavey does a wonderful job of keeping the pace with his playful artwork and animated style.

The recipes are amazing — many are more complicated than I want to tackle. One soup takes two days and there’s a lot of smoking and dehydrating and other impractical things, but they’re inspiring. I love the flavors Cohen comes up with and I’m happy to incorporate them into my own cooking. I also hope if I make it to NYC this year, that I can get to go to Dirt Candy.

My one complaint about Dirt Candy, though? Not enough images of the food. Both Dunlavey and Cohen kind of skimp on this area — the recipes are clear enough, but I wanted more illustrations.

Japan, unsurprisingly, does food comics better than we do in the West. Oishinbo, written by Tetsu Kariya with art by Akira Hanasaki, is 100 volumes but it’s broken up by subject in the U.S. They’re not cookbooks, but there’s plenty of information and history on food and many dazzlingly illustrated panels of dishes. If you still retain an interest in Japanese cuisine (and constantly threaten to make your friends vegetarian sushi), I don’t know why you’re not reading this series.  It’s fun just to look at. I wanted a few more elements of that from Dirt Candy.

As far as this year’s other major food-related comic, Get Jiro, which was co-written by celebrity chef/wild man Anthony Bourdain.  While I did enjoy the images of food, part of me kept wishing there were recipes instead of violence.

After all, recipes taking comic form is pretty logical. Recipes are, for the most part, sequential narratives and there are steps that can be easily illustrated.

Luckily for me, as far for fulling my need to see recipes in comics form, webcomics are were it’s at right now.

Every so often, Saveur invites a comics artist to create a piece about food. Some, like Lisa Hanawalt’s recipe for Hearty Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup are more or less straightfoward how-tos. Others, like Lucy Knisely’s Tanzania Travelogue, are more narrative pieces about the food eaten amongst the experiences the artist had.

Speaking of Knisely, she has an upcoming book that’s all about food called Relish and if that’s not quite enough, her blog, Crave This features plenty of simple recipes and fun images of food.

Panel from L. Nichols' Drawn ButterShe’s not alone there, though. I’m a big fan of L. Nichols’ Drawn Butter, especially for the drink recipes. Sarah Becan’s I Think Your Sauceome isn’t always about food, but they are often enough (and she sometimes has guest strips, which adds to the diversity of the food covered).

Of course, as a vegan, I sometimes feel alienated by a lot of cooking shows and even cooking webcomics. I watch and read to get ideas for flavors and techniques, but still, lessons on how to cook bacon are a waste of my time. That’s why Alisa Harris’ Cooking Up Comics is so delightful. Her recipes aren’t all vegan, although they’re usually at least vegan-friendly, but her clear illustrations and personal stories make all of her recipes fun.

And to me, that’s what it’s all about — food is something we all have in common. Food is a story we can all share with each other. I think comics are a perfect vehicle to tell these stories. So while I’d never claim this is any sort of comprehensive roundup of food comics, it’s the ones I delight in and they do fill the time between cooking show marathons. (And I absolutely welcome finding more!)

And maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll try out some of my own recipes on you.

]]> 3407 Dear Fake Geek Girls: You can come hang out with me https://www.comicsgirl.com/2012/03/26/dear-fake-geek-girls-you-can-come-hang-out-with-me/ https://www.comicsgirl.com/2012/03/26/dear-fake-geek-girls-you-can-come-hang-out-with-me/#comments Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:16:29 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=2965 I get what Tara Tiger Brown is trying to say here and, yes, my headline is as purposefully inflammatory as that one is. That’s the point.

I absolutely understand what it feels like to have all these things you’ve spent years trying to tell people about and being ignored at best or made fun of at worst for them. And then all the sudden all these other people decide all these things are awesome and you feel a little pushed by the wayside. Trust me, I get it.

But I also think there’s room for all of us.

Does it make me less of a gamer because I’m more likely to buy Bejeweled 3 than Mass Effect 3? (My two favorite video games are Tetris — for the original GameBoy — and Street Fighter II, by the way.)

Does it mean I’m less of a comic book reader because I get more excited about Mara than I do Avengers vs. X-Men? Or does it make me less of a fan of film because I prefer Wong Kar-Wai over Steven Spielberg?

All of these things are personal preferences. And I absolutely think finding common ground in your interests and tastes with other people is important — it definitely is. But I don’t think that’s all there is. And to me, the more the merrier.

For instance, I would never tell my mom she wasn’t a comic reader. She doesn’t read a lot of comics, but she’s expressed interest in several of titles I’ve mentioned (and she was curious about R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis before I brought it up). My mom may not be the sort who goes to the comic book store every Wednesday, but I think my mom is as valid of a comic book reader as someone who does.

Those girls who pick up the Twilight manga because they loved the novels? They’re reading comics, too. At best, maybe they’ll decide the like the medium and decide to seek out more comics. At worst, that’s all they’ll read. I don’t have a problem with that either way. Both are completely valid.

I get I’m absolutely lucky in that I get to hang out with knowledgeable comic retailers and creators. But for as many gaps in my knowledge that I admittedly have, none of these people have ever once made me feel stupid. They’ve maybe handed me books and said I needed to read them, but they’ve never made me feel inferior for not having done so already.

So all you geek girls that are maybe just starting out and are maybe dabbling in all these thing: I absolutely welcome you. I have plenty of comics and movies and games I am more than happy recommend. If you decide this isn’t your thing, that’s cool, too. I just hope you did get to meet some great people in the meantime, because ultimately, that’s what this is about.

(Image is Jill Thompson’s art for Graphittie Designs’ Sandman/Death/Delirium T-shirt, which I may or may not be wearing right now and may have or may not have since I was 16 … anyway, it’s appropriate enough.)

]]> https://www.comicsgirl.com/2012/03/26/dear-fake-geek-girls-you-can-come-hang-out-with-me/feed/ 2 2965 A lazy year-in-review for 2011 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/12/12/a-lazy-year-in-review-for-2011/ https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/12/12/a-lazy-year-in-review-for-2011/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:00:37 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=2879 My real life has kept me preoccupied for the past couple of months. There are comics I want to review (and to those of you who sent me stuff a couple of months ago up until now — I’m going to get to it! I promise I promise I promise!) and other things, but the end-of-the-yearness has set in. Unless something really exciting happens, this is likely it for me until 2012.

This year is already kind of blurry. It was certainly dominated by Small Press Expo for me but I’m OK with that. It was an incredible amount of fun and I’m already looking forward to next year (we’re already working on it!).

I also read a tremendous amount of comics. There were plenty I loved — many I didn’t expect to — and I still get a thrill picking up new comics. Yes, there was certainly some silliness with regard to the DC reboot, but Wonder Woman has me hooked (in a lazy way — I read it when I remember). It was also an amazing year for indie comics — I am awed by all the talent that’s out there.

I didn’t get to travel to shows as much as I would’ve liked to — most of that was a money issue, but I was feeling pretty burned out on the usual ones. I didn’t attempt to go to the MoCCA Festival or New York Comic Con; KingCon III was postponed and as much as I would’ve loved to have gone to Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, the timing just didn’t work out. SPACE was fun but I don’t know if I’d go back. I always love the Baltimore Comic-Con, but that was more of just a hanging out opportunity for me this year.

(I will totally take sponsorships if people want to send me to Stumptown or Alternative Press Expo next year. Kids Read Comics Celebration is taking place in Ann Arbor on my birthday weekend and that’s a definite possibility. It may end up being mandatory.)

For some reason, in 2011, I expanded my “media” “empire.” I started up a Tumblr account (or started using it?) and a Facebook page. I also appeared on local show Fantastic Forum and Rusty and Joe interviewed me during SPX (I need to learn to speak into the microphone better. Also? No real idea what I said).

I was also greatly honored to be a part of Big Planet Comics Podcast #17 and I do hope they invite me back at some point because it was a great deal of fun (you should always listen to the podcast — even when I’m not on it).

And the photo on this post? Well, that’s me sorting through Dean Haspiel’s minicomics. Now, everything is going to the Library of Congress (I believe all are in the LoC’s possession now), but Warren Bernard just wanted to do an initial sort/inventory before we sent them off to see what was there. And certainly, it’s fresh in my mind, but when I think about all the things I’ve been privileged to be able to do this year, this felt like one of the bright spots. It was thrilling seeing all these incredible comics, even if I didn’t get to keep any of them.

I am lucky to know such amazing people who let me do so many cool things. I hope that continues in 2012.

]]> https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/12/12/a-lazy-year-in-review-for-2011/feed/ 3 2879 The Big Bang Theory’s Alice is the future https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/11/20/the-big-bang-theorys-alice-is-the-future/ https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/11/20/the-big-bang-theorys-alice-is-the-future/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:52:25 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=2874
Yesterday I was hanging out at the comic book store (like I do) and a couple of teenage girls came in looking for issues of Spider Island they were missing. They joined in our conversation about how digital comics aren’t a replacement for print (one of them said she had the issues on her iTouch but she still wanted to have them). I am clearly a fan of teenage girls in comic book stores, so this was all fun.

After they left, my friend said to me “Those girls give me hope, but I do worry about the boys they’re going to scare once they get to college.”

A few weeks ago, there were an episode of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory where the plot involved one of the main characters, Leonard, meeting a young woman named Alice in the comic book store (you can see her in the screenshot above).

Now, there are probably some things to complain about here — I personally found the whole meet-cute over an issue of John Byrne’s Next Men a little too insidery, but it wasn’t a big deal. And yes, to a large extent, they played up the male characters’ awkwardness at seeing a hot girl in their comic book store.

Still, even with her scant screen time (although I’ve read Alice may be back), I found Alice refreshing. I may be projecting a bit too much here, but I didn’t feel like Alice thought she was a novelty. She wasn’t going into the comic book store so nerdy guys could fawn over here. She was just going there to buy comics. (Later in the episode, we find out Alice makes her own comics, which is also a cool thing to see on a popular sitcom.)

Comic book stores can still be uncomfortable places for women sometimes and women creators are still under-represented at Marvel and DC. These are problems. But gross as that Starfire stuff was in Red Hood and the Outlaws, to me, that’s quickly going to be irrelevant.

The teenage girls in the store yesterday? They absolutely are the future of comics. As are all the young women filling up sequential arts classes to the point where they’re outnumbering the men. In that way, I think a sitcom showing a young woman choosing to go into a comic book store to buy comics for herself is a pretty big deal.

]]> https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/11/20/the-big-bang-theorys-alice-is-the-future/feed/ 5 2874 Playing catch up https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/08/28/playing-catch-up/ Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:59:50 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=2781 Much of my brain-space has been taken up by work and Small Press Expo preparations (How about those Ignatz Awards nominees?). I have a stack of comics I’m reading (and they look at me and sigh when another day goes by that I haven’t read them). I am having fun, for the most part, minus natural disasters (I was, luckily, mostly unaffected by both the earthquake and the hurricane, and I hope it was the same for you).

  • I did make it — however briefly — to Baltimore Comic Con last weekend. It’s a wonderful con and everyone — from exhibitors to attendees — seem like they had a good time. I had a good time, even though I basically just went because it was there, but I did kind of have a “Why am I here again?” feeling while being there. That says more about my state of mind than it does about the con itself, though. I am quickly approaching comics overload.
  • I’ve written two pieces for inReads — Literary Comics: Another Way to Consume the Classics and The Autobiographical Comic: Some Recommendations. I hope to write more in the future because I think the site is great.
  • Yeah, and Small Press Expo. You will be there, right? We’re doing some cool new things this year, including the Graphic Novel Gift Program and something awesome that will be announced tomorrow. It’s pretty baffling to me that it’s in less than two weeks. I’ve been working on this thing for months and I can’t believe it’s almost here.

At some point, I’ll get back on a proper schedule of actually writing things, but I don’t see that happening any time soon. I am hanging around on Tumblr and Twitter and sometimes on Facebook, though.

(My SPX guides may be back this year. We’ll see, though. I think most of last year’s stuff still applies.)

]]> 2781 Reflections on my first comic book https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/03/08/reflections-on-my-first-comic-book/ https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/03/08/reflections-on-my-first-comic-book/#comments Tue, 08 Mar 2011 23:38:50 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=2092 My mom is getting ready to put her house up for sale. A couple of weekends ago, I was there for a visit and to also help clean out my closet (much of it had already been done, but there were still a few boxes to go through). Some of this cleaning involved going through my comics.

In all honesty, I never had that big of a comic book collection. I never bought too many individual issues as it was and I often gathered up comics I was done with and passed them along (or turned them into craft projects — yes, I am a terrible person). There were maybe about 300 comics in my closet and I got rid of about half (as these things go, they didn’t actually sell at our yard sale — my mom ended up giving them away. There were some good comics in there so I hope they at least ended up with someone who appreciates them).

I’d been thinking about this anyway, and while I am unclear on the actual date, but 2011 marks 20 years of my comic-book-reading life. I distinctly remember what my first comic was — X-Factor #62.

In retrospect, it wasn’t the best nor the most reader-friendly choice — it was the end of a crossover — but I didn’t know any better.

Let’s back up a bit. My brother, after seeing some friends at school with them, bought a couple of packs of the first series of Marvel Universe Cards. I did, too. This wasn’t too much of a leap for us since we were both baseball card collectors.

I found myself attracted to a lot of the X-Men characters and I wanted to know more about them. So, one day at 7-Eleven before some outing with our mom, we picked up comics (this was the days where comics were sold at 7-Eleven. And they also only cost $1. And you could get a Slurpee at the same time. Yes, these were the days). At least, this is my memory of the experience — I am willing to allow this was no true.

I don’t remember what my brother bought, but I clearly remember I bought X-Factor #62. (It was dated January 1991, which meant it came out earlier than that. I feel like it was spring when I bought it, but I honestly don’t know.)

I definitely remember being confused, since, as I mentioned, this was the end of a fairly large crossover series (although it was just nine issues. That’s kind of cute now) but it was interesting enough to me that I wanted to read more comics. In fact, I think starting on the X-Men titles after “Xtinction Agenda” was pretty good timing.

And that comic? It was written by Louise Simonson. That’s right: My first comic was written by a woman. I didn’t know it at the time, but I think that’s amazing and appropriate.

(OK: In all honesty, I had read some Archie comics before this, but I guess I mean this in a way where this was the first comic I recognized as a comic book.)

I realize I came into comics at possibly the worst time in retrospect — the mid-’90s boom and bust was just around the corner — but it was fun at the time. And despite it all, I never fully gave up comics. Yes, many issues of various X-titles followed and I bought into the whole Image thing, but I also found The Tick and Elfquest and The Sandman. Those comics taught me that there was more out there than just the usual suspects and I’ve been filling my bookshelves up with them ever since.

I didn’t know what X-Factor #62 was going to mean at the time — it was just a fun, if confusing, diversion. But I remain grateful for that comic, 20 years later. Even if it wasn’t the best introduction, it opened the door to so many great things.

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